This invention relates to a holder and shear ledger plate for package tiers and more particularly to an improved plate for machines described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,904, issued June 30, 1964 to E. E. Burford.
Over the years since the issuance of this patent the wire gripper and cutter described in the patent has been modified to a two-piece combination called the holder and shear ledger plate assembly and the machines supplied by the Burford Company to the bakery industry is a machine described in the patent as a modified machine adapted for tying loaves of bread bagged in lightweight packaging material and tied with a length of wire-reinforced plastic or paper tape.
In all of the prior art holder and shear ledger plates of which applicant is aware the holder and shear ledger plate was positioned a substantial distance, of the order of one-fourth inch above the twister hook which twists the wire-reinforced tie ribbon. This often resulted in a wire tie twisted too loosely so that the bag neck was not tied air tight. Modifications were made in the machine to rotate the twister hook four times rather than the three-turn hook described in the patent but frequently the tie was not twisted tight and the twister hook frequently became damaged and bent.